Review: Tahto

Skier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen’s play is about jogging – You would think the actors would be drenched in sweat

Few living people are made into a play. However, skier Aino-Kaisa “Aikku” Saarinen is an exception. Helsinki City Theatre’s play Tahto depicts her career from her childhood home to the top of the world.

The play tells us that Aiku’s family was quite competitive, as the father took his time while the twin girls ran around the house. There was also a competition for picking berries.

The sisters competed with each other in everything, including skiing. It is mentioned that her twin sister was an even better skier than Aino-Kaisa. However, the play does not tell why her sister did not continue her career. In any case, the history of sports could be different if her sister had also participated in competitions at the top of the sport.

The journey to the top was not easy. It required blood, sweat, tears and years of training on a precise schedule from Aino-Kaisa, as well as a strong will to win. A person must be some kind of self-torturer, a masochist, in order to be able to perform the same kind of performance as him.

The two faces of a skier

The City Theatre’s play is based on the biography of Aiku, which was published a few years ago and was written by sports journalist Pekka Holopainen. It reveals the two faces of the skier.

Aikku turns out to be a selfish egoist when he focuses only on winning. Family and other relatives are secondary to skiing for him.

The almost two-and-a-half-hour play showed in a shocking way how serious and slow it is to get to the top in a skiing career. Aiku must have had not only will but also a lot of perseverance in years of demanding training with the goal of victory.

The victory has not come easily, but there have also been disappointments on the way to world number one. Perhaps thanks to disappointments and years of toil, victory feels even sweeter when you finally achieve it!

At the Finnish Championship level, Aikku will have Virpi Kuitunen as her competitor, who is described as a relaxed competitor and who, thanks to her brilliant physique, beats Aiku like a charm.

However, his hard work is rewarded in numerous World Championships and the Olympics, and so the national anthem is played in honour of Aiku.

The actors’ sweat loop

I’ve never been in a play where there has been as much running and sports as in Tahto. The actors are sure to be drenched in sweat for most of the time, as they insightfully use the stage and also the auditorium as a running ground.

The roles of Sanna-June Hyde and Linda Zilliacus as Aikkuna and Virpinä are the most physically challenging in the play. Tonight’s performance is sure to be a fitness run of the day.

They both play their strong roles convincingly. Sanna-Junen Aikku is a determined and strong-willed skier. It doesn’t matter if Virpi has a better physique, Aiku’s will will take her to victory!

It’s also nice to hear the singing of Sanna-June Hyde and Vappu Nalbantoglu. Especially the congratulatory song sung by Vappu is absolutely wonderful in its brightness. It reminds me of Marilyn Monroe’s song Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

There is something very Finnish about this play. Would the Finnishness be the Aiku sisu that takes you through even the grey stone?